inFAMOUS: At the Edge
by NeoNazo356
Summary: An entire life can take years if not decades until it amounts to something. However it only takes an instant for it all to be broken down. While Bertrand's sacrifice of "those who would not be missed" gave birth to the pyrokinetic Conduit, Nix, what Conduit then, would be born from the hands of a man whose power was given to him through circumstance and fate?
1. At the Edge

Cole MacGrath.

Thinking back… That's a name I both admire and despise at the same time. Confusing really, but I remember it like it was yesterday, clear as day I do.

I remember waking up in the early morning at around 6:00, and for me it's impossible to get back to sleep once I wake up, so I started the day a few hours early with my morning rituals. After showering and brushing my teeth, I slipped into my lucky black red-laced sneakers and a dull grey jogging suit with a hood. Grabbing a bottle of water from the fridge on the way out, I headed out to the coast of the Historical District and began jogging with my fists held up over my face, throwing the occasional punch as I moved through the crisp morning air. By the time 7 o'clock rolled around, the people living in the Historical District began leaving their homes to start the day, some to work while others did the same thing I did. The boxing bit was only because I felt like I could be moving them more.

The district was still a bit dark since the sun had yet to rise over the horizon, and soon the electronic billboards and street lamps would shut down once they were no longer needed. Next moment out of nowhere-

_**KRIIIISH**_

A pulse ripples through the air, the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end as I felt like a thin wall of air passed through me, my eyes looking to the buildings to see that the every electronic device in the city suddenly went off.

_**KRACK**_

Looking over my shoulders, I suddenly see a massive dome of white and blue electricity two blocks away, and it's slowly expanding.

_**KrrrrrrooooOOOOOOOOM**_

I run as fast as my legs can take me, my thighs burning and all the hair on my body standing on end as the dome of electricity continued to expand. I dared not look over my shoulder, not wanting to end up tripping over something and get caught up in the explosion.

However, it was all for naught, as everything suddenly turned white, and then I blacked out.

* * *

><p><strong>(Normal POV)<strong>

Bolting awake with a sharp inhale, I found myself lying face-down on the ground, the smell of smoke and burning metal filling my nostrils. My eyes widening at the memory of the blast, I rolled onto my back and saw that the ground around me was charred like it had been burnt, my jogging suit covered in soot. Looking to my watch, I saw that not only was the thing shorted out, but that there was a huge crack right across the casing.

"Damn… Need a new watch…" I groaned as I yanked the now-useless time-telling device from my wrist and tossed it to the side. It'd be cheaper to get a new one after all. Looking up as I tried to figure out what had just happened, my eyes widened in their sockets as I saw the district around me.

The place looked like a nuke went off, and with the color of the blast, my guess may've been close. Buildings were collapsed or in the process of becoming so, cars were thrown about, trees ripped from the ground, fires everywhere with smoke coloring the sky red, and the people… they were just gone.

"What the… What the hell happened?" I gaped as I looked around, trying to find out what had happened. The blast that took out the entire neighborhood came out of _nowhere_, and I doubted there was anything left. A minute later as I tried to come to terms with what had just happened, I suddenly heard the beating of rotary blades in the air, my eyes turning to the skyline above the blast zone, a black helicopter coming into view.

"There's someone alive down there!" a voice suddenly said from a megaphone. Looking up to the epicenter of the blast, I saw a black helicopter surveying the damage, though I thought the pilot was _seeing_ things since if the district was in _this _bad a shape at the edge, a survivor at the blast's _epicenter_ would be damn year impossible. "Hey! Wave up if you can hear me!" the pilot repeated, my eyes spotting movement in the distance, by some _miracle _with everything leveled, burning, or reduced to molten slag, a lone survivor stood on a pillar of stone. Almost as if... "If you can walk, get out of there, head for the bridge."

"That guy is right in the middle of the blast zone. How is he even in one piece? The blast should've _vaporized _him," I said to myself in shock. Only reason I figure _I'm _alive was that I was right at its edge, apparent from the crater's edge I woke up in. Shaking my head of those thoughts, I worked the kinks out of my back as I headed to the Fremont Bridge, using whatever intact portions of street and sidewalk there were left. "Damn, what the hell's going on?" I asked pulling my cell out of my pocket to try and make a call, only for the damn thing to crumble into dust in my hands. "Great. There goes my deposit," I grumbled as I dropped the useless chunks of plastic and headed to the bridge leading to the Neon district. If anything, I'm glad my wallet survived, though my credit card probably won't work now.

* * *

><p>Heading around the northeast corner of the island, my apartment <em>totaled <em>by the blast, I eventually made my way to the Fremont Bridge, the structure itself totaled while a few patrol cars and an ambulance parked nearby. I could always receive medical treatment once I hit the Neon, so I by passed the police cars and headed for the bridge, but not before getting a good look at myself.

With three quarters of a year until I hit seventeen, I stood at around five foot five inches, my skin lightly tanned from the exercise, my left eye still green, and my right eye still brown. Heterochromia never came up in my family history, but it wasn't like I didn't like this. Think it made me look badass when I got angry. My dark brown hair on the other hand was a mess, jutting out in every direction, and grime covered my above-average face. There were cuts across my hands from when I was thrown, and I wouldn't be able to wear this jumpsuit for long. The thing was nearly _threadbare_, and I'd probably have to hold my pants off the ground with my hands in a while if this treatment kept up.

"Damn. Wish I'd taken my stash with me," I grumbled to myself as I made my way onto the bridge, suddenly feeling sick to my stomach, but decided against throwing up there, figuring if I'd get sick I may as well do it in the district _not _left as a smoking crater.

The next moment, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up again like before, a now-bald man with scalded skin, and a ruined yellow and black leather jacket with black pants suddenly being electrocuted by arcs of electricity from over ten feet away. Almost like his body was _drawing _it to him. Suddenly, a bolt of lightning came down and the skies darkened, nearly tripping over my feet and into the bay as the place was suddenly _blitzkrieged _by lightning strikes, and as I ran, the sick feeling in my stomach suddenly turned into an energetic feeling, like I'd just taken in an energy drink. However, that feeling soon became _unconfortably _energetic. Running as fast as I could away from the lightning blasts, I suddenly felt a rush as the world blurred around me, and I turned around just in time to meet-

_**Thud**_

A brick wall.

Groaning as I got to my feet and rubbed my head, I wondered who the hell put a wall in the middle of the bridge, only to look over my shoulder and see I was now a full block away from the bridge, when I hadn't even _left _the damn thing yet. Looking down at myself, I saw white energy racing across by frame before it eventually died down, the uncomfortably energetic feeling disappearing as well. Though not completely.

Whatever the blast had done to me… it had changed me, I said to myself as I looked down at a nearby puddle, my eyes glowing a faint white before they died down. For better or worse… I was changed.

* * *

><p><strong>Well, here's the start of my inFAMOUS fanfiction. Far from my first, I still have big plans for this one. If you liked, Review. If you see problems with it, <em>also <em>Review.**


	2. Civilizational Suicide

One day had passed since the blast, and everyone I knew in the Historic District was either dead or dying. I myself wasn't much better off since all I had was the money in my pocket and the clothes on my back. I had found myself sleeping on a bench at a bus stop, using newspapers as blankets like some bum and trying to come with terms with what happened.

The first night may've been rough, and it was going to _continue _getting rougher until it got better.

* * *

><p>By the fourth day since "the Blast", things had gone straight to hell in Empire City. A plague suddenly came out of nowhere and hit us with the force of a freight train, followed by rioting, theft, and rape in every direction up to our eyeballs. Civilization as we knew it was committing suicide, but that wasn't even the <em>worst <em>part. In a bullshit attempt to contain the biological threat, the federal government locked down all access points in and out of the city be it land, sea, or air. That pretty much meant I, along with everyone _else _in the city, was utterly and thoroughly _screwed. _Seems like whatever bad karma we'd been accumulating was giving it to us _hard_.

Not only was I going to have to live on whatever money or food I could scrounge while trying to stay alive, but even if I _could _get in contact with my relatives, it wasn't like they would be able to send me any food, money, or funds, and I doubted the feds delivered mail into the quarantine zone. To make matters worse, every low-life in the city had free reign with no one to stop them, the only difference being that this time there wasn't anyone around to stop them.

* * *

><p>By the fifth day the cops were all but gone off the streets, either dead or too chickenshit to stand against the gangs that controlled things now. I climbed up a fire escape when the looting started and just huddled up into a ball on the roof by the air conditioning unit, never having been so scared in my life. But it wasn't <em>only <em>the psychos down below who were terrifying me. _I, _no, my _body _was terrifying me. I played the events of the first day again and again in my head, trying to figure out just _how _I covered an entire block in a few seconds, having not even felt the metal change to asphalt beneath my feet by the time my face met the brick wall.

You have to understand, I wasn't terrified, I was FREAKING terrified! There was no one to talk to, no experts to consult, and with this uncomfortably energetic feeling filling my body from my gut every so often, my eyes glowing in their sockets, I knew that I truly _had _changed. That I wasn't _truly _human, or whatever "human" is, anymore.

It also didn't help that there was rioting, theft, and rape all around me at every waking moment, and that the only times I was able to fall asleep was when I was too exhausted to listen to the cries filling the night any longer.

* * *

><p>When a week had passed since the Blast, having just barely survived on whatever food I could scrounge from the relief packages that I could occasionally get my hands on, I was able to find an abandoned apartment room just below the side of the roof where I was hiding. Dropping down onto the balcony, I entered the place and found that it hadn't been touched in a week, the owner most likely dead or missing.<p>

Either way, doing what I had to do, _-and it went against all my morals to do so-_, I barricaded the door while I tore the place apart, grabbing whatever food and water I could, sating the hunger that had been growing with each day of near-starvation. Having had my fill, and used a _real _bathroom and shower in a week, I scrounged around for whatever money and jewelry I could. The money I could use for whatever I needed it for, while the jewelry I could keep hidden until I hawked it for some quick money. It wasn't something I _wanted _to do, but I knew that if I wanted to make it out of this, _if _I made it out of this, I'd have to keep moving, and break every rule I could to survive. Circumstances weren't helping, though I would draw the line when it came to taking from another human directly.

At least I could draw the line _somewhere_.

Later that day I broke into a second-hand clothing store a few blocks down, the back entrance left open by whoever was there last, and began scavenging for whatever clothing I could. My shoes I could hold on to for a _little _while longer since they had sentimental value to me, but the rest _had _to go. Didn't matter if I'd cleaned my body, since I'd only get filthier and filthier as I wore the same ratty grey jogging suit day in and day out. As I dug through the bins and pushed through the hangers, I wondered if I would've died had I not been outside my house, then realized, there wasn't any _would've _about it.

Were I not out of my house, I _would _be dead, no questions asked!

"Never _did _enjoy paying full-price for retail," I noted to myself as I had finally dug out enough clothing for a full outfit. Hopping into the changing room and shedding the jogging suit I'd had to wear for a full week, I wiped my body down with a damp towel due to the lack of shower, then stepped out after changing my attire and looked at the full-body mirror nearby. I'd changed out of my sweat pants into some khaki cargo pants, pockets large enough so that I wouldn't have to carry whatever food or bottled water I found in my hands, making myself an open target to theft. My jogging suit I'd changed out of into a white T-shirt and over it a black leather jacket that would be enough to keep me warm when nightfall hit. I tended not to wear anything with graphic designs on them unless it was actually a _part _of the fabric, because the rubber or plastic made me sweat and chafe.

Not questioning why the place was left intact, I scrounged whatever other clothes and jackets I could find for myself. Unless a laundromat opened up nearby, and I got enough money for detergent, I'd have to make these clothes last until things got cleaned up in the city.

_If _they cleaned up, and the only reason I didn't scavenge clothing from that apartment I looted was because it belonged to a chick, and I didn't do _drag_.

* * *

><p>The next day, word got around 'bout a new faction in Empre City. The Reapers.<p>

Before the blast, they were just a bunch of junkies dealing drugs. Now, they _owned _the Neon District… taking whatever they wanted, _whenever _they wanted. Cops were gone from the streets, and no one had the means to fight back, so whenever you spotted the triangle-shaped skull that served as their insignia, you knew _damn _well to run, which actually brings me to my more pressing predicament.

But back on day one, I had wanted to get the hell away from whatever was happening on the far side of the bridge, and then I'd suddenly found myself a block away. I tried to keep the brick wall and the near-broken nose thing out of my mind as I peeled the events surrounding it away. It took a lot of thinking, and there was only one _remotely _reasonable explanation for how I'd done that, regardless of how crazy it sounded.

I had acquired superpowers from whatever that blast had done to me.

There were a _shitload _of crappy excuses for people to develop superpowers in comic books, so someone gaining the ability to teleport after being blasted by an energy bomb wasn't that much of a stretch. After all, Bruce Banner could turn into the Hulk after being bathed in _gamma_ radiation, so the superpower thing wasn't that much of a stretch considering the Blast was _definitely _radioactive. Now all I had to do was try and isolate just _what _caused me to teleport, and if possible, learn how to control it.

* * *

><p>On the ninth day since the Blast, I began my teleportation training.<p>

I started out on the roof I'd been staying on, having fashioned a lean-to with some PVC piping and a large tarp using some building insulation as a mattress and pillow. The place wasn't _so _high up that a fall would kill me, but it was also high enough that no one would notice, but even then I'd be able to notice _them _first if they were trying to notice _me_. I didn't delude myself in thinking no one would _ever _find out, but I figured I could stave it off as long as I could.

Emptying my mind and meditating, I peeled away the events that surrounded my first _Jump_, knowing whatever emotion, sensation, or stimuli involved would be the key to learning how to control my powers. If it turned out the teleporting thing was _only _a fluke, then I could live with it, but until that was confirmed, I got to the thinking.

It would be five days until anything changed significantly in Empire City.

* * *

><p><strong>Just a little touch-up on my character's story concerning the events before inFAMOUS' "Level 1", since Cole waking up in the crater was more of a "Level 0" kind of thing. You know, the tutorial level in a game where you learned to move, change the camera, etc.<strong>

**Also, while I left my OC's gender up in the air with the first chapter, neither adding anything too feminine or masculine to the elements to indicate either one, if you were able to catch it, I finally left a clue as to indicate what gender my character was.**

**As for the name, well, you'll have to see.**


	3. A Week in Empire

By the fourteenth day of the quarantine, I had finally gotten a grasp on the whole… teleporting thing, as well as finding a daily routine that worked for myself.

This uncomfortably energetic feeling I'd been getting, it was whatever new energy was inside me trying to escape out into the world, and when I teleported, or _Jumped _since it just _felt _like I was one of the Jumpers from that one movie, the energy would die down. My methods weren't perfect, since in cramped spaces I tended to bump into stuff a lot, but in open areas I could cover a lot of ground unhindered. Only problem was me teleporting down the streets was bound to draw attention to myself, so I kept to practicing on rooftops and back alleys when no one was around. If any _one _person saw me, I could always say they were seeing things, since without anyone to vouch for them they wouldn't be able to actually _prove _anything

As for my routine, I'd wake up, wash my face with whatever clean towel I could, and if need be changed into some fresh clothes. I hung out by the electronics store when not training, listening to any news that applied to me, like the "Voice of Survival" guy telling when and where food would be dropped. Relief Packages came once a day, and while the food wasn't _great, _it was better than starving to death. Apart from eating what I could when I could, I'd head back to where I was hiding out and go back to sleep. Before the Blast I was a heavy sleeper and could sleep through a _hurricane _if I wanted to, but _now _if there was someone coming up to me, I'd know it, and I'd kick their asses.

**Flashback - **_**Twelfth Night**_

There was the regular murmur of Empire City going through the night. Since all the cars in the area had been pretty much fucked up by the looting and rioting, I didn't have to worry about being kept up at night by the ambient noise. It was at this moment that I was sleeping beneath my lean-to, the weariness leaving my body when suddenly there was a creaking of metal from the fire escape to the roof, my eyes opening as I looked out onto the roof from the shadows my lean-to provided.

Next moment across from the roof, a few punks dressed in fabricated Reaper hoodies climbed what they _thought _was quietly up to the roof. The reason I say _fabricated _was because every Reaper carried either guns or flare-like bombs in each hand. No, these guys were just some punks playing off the hype to scare people into getting what they wanted. _Normal _thugs people would fight back against, but _Reapers_, that was another story.

"_Look. There he is. Sleeping,"_ one of them said. This one had a knife in his hands.

"_Good. Now keep quiet. We take his clothes, his money, food, and then we get out of here,"_ the one who was apparently the leader said. This one had a lead pipe in his hands.

"_And if he wakes up?" _a third one asked. This one was kinda burly, so he didn't really _need _any weapons.

"_Kick his ass and throw him off the building. It isn't like there are any _cops _around," _the leader cackled, but then hushed himself. Too bad I as already awake.

When the three of them stepped towards my lean-to, I rolled out with blanket in hand and threw it over the leader's head, yanking his head down to my knee and hitting him with everything I had, the force of the attack causing him to let go of his lead pipe. The burly guy grabbed me in the panic while the one with the knife tried to shiv me. In response I tucked my legs to my chest, the sudden change of weight and catching the big guy unawares causing him to lean forward, the skinny guy's knife finding home in the big guy's shoulder. As he cried out at the penetration, I smashed the back of my head into his chin and grabbed the lead pipe form the ground, stomping the leader's head into the roof before I leapt at the skinny guy and let him have it across the face, blood and teeth sent flying with a loud -_**CRACK**_- before he hit the ground. When the leader tried to get up, I simply yanked him up by the blanket that was still wrapped around his head, spinning him around before I let go of one end, sending him spinning before he came to the end of the roof, precariously balancing over the edge with arms flailing and eyes wide as he looked into the alleyway below, the unforgiving ground being the only thing awaiting him with open arms. Grabbing a piece of concrete from the roof, I chucked it at the guy's sternum and sent him falling over the edge, a flat **_-SQUELCH- _**meeting my ears after the _-brief- _scream. Turning my attention back to the big guy as he finally got the knife out of his shoulder, I raised the lead pipe above my head and brought it down onto the skinny guy's back, eliciting a cry of pain from him as I glared at the guy who almost have me shived.

"Beat it, or I'll do to _you _what I did to your _friend_," I said jabbing a thumb over to the edge of the roof. When the big guy noticed there were only _two _other people on the roof, the guy dropped the knife before heading down the fire escape and leaving his friend behind. Guy was probably some poor schmuck his jackass friends roped into being a part of their posse, size being a major factor into their obvious intimidation strategy.

"Ma moufh," the skinny one groaned holding his jaw, a few teeth missing with blood dripping out of his lips.

"Get up you maggot," I growled as I took the bloody knife in one hand and twirled the lead pipe in the other. "I'm not done with you yet," I growled with narrowed eyes. Unknown to me, the shadows around my face began to thicken, my hair sticking out, and my eyes glowing in the darkness making me look like the devil.

"Uwaaaah!" the skinny punk cried as he ran off. Most likely the big guy had found his friend in the alley at the bottom of the building, and the skinny guy would _really _have something to scream about.

"Jackasses," I grumbled to myself as I gathered my stuff and headed off. I'd need a new place to stay if I wanted to get any sleep that night, and if those guys had friends, they'd be back.

**Flashback End**

I'd had my fair share of scuffles since everything went straight to hell, and while my fighting style wasn't perfect, no one with any sense would reprimand me for defending myself. Or at least not anyone who wasn't a total _hypocrite._ As for the guy who fell, it wasn't me knocking him over the roof that most likely killed him. It was the _ground _that killed him when he fell, leaving my conscience clean.

* * *

><p>It was later that day that a relief package was dropped in Archer Square, and like anyone else with a stomach to fill, I ran for it. I didn't want to risk teleporting unnecessarily, but if I needed to get away from the Reapers, you can be sure as hell that I would be <em>gone<em>.

Arriving at the scene, I growled lowly in my throat, along with everyone _else _for three blocks, when the idiot flying the plane had the relief package dropped right on top of the massive statue looming over the square. Thing was over a hundred feet in the air, and for a moment I thought that stuff would end up staying up there until it rotted, however color me surprised when the half-cooked guy from the Historic shows up with his round sidekick and starts _climbing _the thing. The guy could climb with the best of them, pulling off moves that I didn't think were possible. When he got to the ring connecting the parachute to the relief package, he did _something _to make it drop, but because the sun was in my way I couldn't get a good look at it.

As soon as the packaged dropped, heavy-duty cases scattered across the block, I ran up and grabbed one, running off as the people came out of the shock of what just happened. Down the street however, a bus passed by, and a group of Reapers, _real _ones, headed towards us. Hiding behind a pillar however, my eyes widened when I saw the guy who climbed up to the top of the statue jump down to the ground… and live.

Not only that, but his attack released a massive shockwave that sent any nearby Reapers flying. As I hunkered down, planning my escape route of any of the Reapers got too close, I watched in awe as the guy launched lightning bolts from his fingertips, punching and kicking the guys with electricity arcing off his limbs. When one was about to shoot him in the back, I chucked the relief package through the air and nailed him in the head, causing the guy to cry out, giving the man enough time to whirl around and throw his fist out, sending a wave of some kind at him and launch the guy fifty feet into the air.

Then, as soon as the Reapers showed up, they were all down for the count. As the people began to come out of hiding while others helped the wounded, I ran up and took back my relief package, opening it up and digging into whatever food I could. It was a few minutes before the others got into the act, and as I was picking out whatever food I _couldn't _eat, someone beside me chose to speak up.

"Those idiots dropped us canned _prunes_. Now who the hell'd want to _eat_ this crap?" a plump man with kneepads, a bandoleer across his waist, and a six-shooter asked digging into one of the relief packages.

"Beggars can't be choosers," I said aloud as I politely took the can from his hands, which the guy wasn't all to reluctant to part with.

Next moment, that "Voice of Survival" guy comes up on his pirated TV broadcast and blamed a guy name Cole MacGrath for the Blast at the corner of 19th and Sloat. I knew for a fact that the guy who had jumped down from a hundred feet or so and kicked the Reaper's asses was the same guy from the video, as _well _as the half-cooked guy from Day 1. After the broadcast ended and seeing the people's reactions when they recognized him, I kept my distance. Last thing I needed were the people trying to lynch me just because I was standing _next _to the guy, people having killed one another in the past for less of a reason than that.

Like the other day when a guy looked at a girl who _may've _been under 18, and his dad blew his brains out onto the sidewalk. In broad daylight. With a shotgun. And everyone just went on with their lives, not even bothering to cover it up.

Before the rioting could start, and I could tell things were about to get ugly by the recognition and scowls on the people's faces, I overheard Cole and his sidekick talk about meeting up at the Stampton Bridge. While Cole took to the south streets and to the rooftops, I packed what food I could in the backpack I managed to hoard before heading out in the same direction as the big guy for a few blocks. Overhearing how everyone in town pretty much hated Cole's guts, the two made a bold plan on heading down the Stampton Bridge, past the quarantine station at the end, and then getting to the mainland.

While I was tempted to follow the "electric man", his plump sidekick, and the couple dozen people down the bridge past the quarantine line and to freedom on the other side of the Stampton Bridge, I knew it was hopeful thinking at best. The feds were _adamant _that no one leave Empire City, the coast guard patrolling the waters and making sure no one got off by boat, the navy shooting down anything that left more than ten feet of the quarantine zone. Be it men, women, or children, they were shot down indiscriminately, and not even left to drown. Just punched full of lead and holes.

If I went down that bridge with them, it didn't matter that I was just a kid. I'd be as good as dead, and I wasn't _that _desperate yet.

* * *

><p>Following evening, I was <em>damn <em>glad I didn't go with them, since all the people met on the far side of the bridge were walls of razor wire and machine guns. I was fairly certain I saw a few kids no older than _me _heading down the bridge too, and while I wasn't anywhere _near _close enough to see what had happened, I knew for a fact there weren't any survivors. For every fed that _doesn't _want to hurt people, there will always be another two willing to do whatever it took to get the job done. I don't blame them, they're defending their country, but you'd think the feds would drop some more food down here.

Previous night, there was some huge debacle with some freaky tar in the water supply, and I was thankful that during my stint of scavenging, that I learned to waft odors off of whatever I was about to eat or drink into my nose. You know, to make sure it was safe. From that I'd heard of it, the people were getting sick, really _really _sick, hallucinating and running around like maniacs. Closest word for it was anyone that drank or had the black water splashed on them were sent on "mind trips". Of course, almost immediately after getting my teleporting powers under control, I ended up with a _new _roadblock.

**Flashback – **_**Night of the Fourteenth Day**_

I was heading down a back alley with a backpack full of food. While I knew the importance of sharing, I also knew the importance of looking out for number one, so I avoided letting anyone see the food I carried. It was heartless, I know, but _heartless _was becoming the new standard.

As I turned a corner, I suddenly came face to face with a group of Reapers mugging a small group of people. I stepped back not wanting to get involved, since my only power involved _running_, but stepping on a bag of potato chips which made a loud crunching sound beneath my feet, the skull-wearing psychos' heads jerked up, their eyes turning to me from within the darkened cowls of their hoods. The moment they locked eyes on me, I bolted down the alley, the gang following me.

Turning right and heading towards the street, I paled when I saw _another _group of Reapers mugging yet _another _group of people. Looking up at me, I cursed as I ran down the last branch of the **Y**-shaped alley I was cutting through. Stupid move when I think about it. As I ran, I suddenly came to a dead end, and turning around, I saw that both groups of Reapers had now joined up, totaling in over a dozen as they headed towards me.

As they headed towards me, my back to the wall and no way out, I suddenly felt an unknown energy building up in my body. Feeling like a coiled spring about to… well, spring, I threw my arms forward, which were glowing with arcs of white energy.

The next moment, there were white and black flashes down the alleyway as concussive explosions suddenly went off in a line in front of me. With shrill cries, the Reapers around me were suddenly launched into the air, limbs flailing as they were launched just to the edge of the roves before coming back down with heavy thuds and snapping sounds. Their bodies splayed out across the place, a few of them with bones protruding from their bodies, I looked down to my glowing hands before they died down, then looked back up.

"Dude…" I said in awe, seeing the unconscious and injured Reapers scattered across the ground. "How did I do that?"

**Flashback End**

It went without saying that after I sent those guys, and the _car _in the back alley, for a loop, that I ran. Just like before, I was freaking out with all my body's changes. More than when I first teleported, and _far _more than when I went through puberty. First time around my voice cracked and I had hair growing out of odd places. _This _time however I was developing superpowers.

Just hoped nothing _else _weird happened.

* * *

><p>I had shelled out for a <em>real <em>hotel room the previous evening, and since the power was out it was relatively cheap. By the next morning the power was back, but I didn't pay it that much mind, as I spent the mostpart of the morning before I was asked to leave trying to come to terms with what happened. A half-hour before my allotted time in the hotel room was over, I had.

Once more I had developed superpowers, this one being able to send powerful concussive-force shockwaves out along the ground in a chain. The Reapers I hit were sent flying, and for whatever reason it was there, the car I vaulted over on my way down the back alley had _also _been launched into the air.

Of course, now I had _another _power to reign in, only _this _one could actually hurt people if it went off at an inopportune moment, and I couldn't have half the block going up in flames every time I got scared and threw my arms forward. With that in mind, I chose a large abandoned rooftop and began to train. The ground didn't seem to be affected that much when I sent those hoodie-wearing yahoos flying, so a roof wouldn't be as bad.

Remembering the coiled spring feeling, I held one arm back and began to focus, _trying _to draw the ambient energy of my body into it. Slowly opening my eyes, I saw that there were now arcs of white energy swirling around my arm, though there were bits of black in it as well. Feeling that coiled feeling within, I threw my arm forward, a series of bursts… well, _bursting_, across the rooftop, forming three yard-wide burst two yards from one another before coming to a stop.

"Well now…" I said to myself after witnessing the damage caused to the junk littering the roof. "This will certainly be useful if I ever find myself in a jam," I said as I continued the training. Now though I worked on control in _general_, and later I would work on the distance. If anyone was dumb enough to stand around me when a conflict broke out, they _deserved _to get sent for a loop until I learned to control the size, if that were possible.

Later that day as I continued my Shockwave training, a loud grating nose reached my ears, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Looking down to the train tracks above the streets, I saw Cole MacGrath powering an entire subway train, almost like the guy was a human third rail. Frankly it was quite shocking, no pun intended, but remembering that that I was at the _edge _of the Blast when it went off, and he was at the center, Cole pulling something like this became easier to believe. Especially since those that survived the blast would apparently develop superpowers.

As far as I'd seen, the guy was like a patron saint for Empire City, cleaning the crime off the streets, motivating the people to do better and get things running again. The people were putting up posters of him and forming fanclubs, and if the guy had set the bomb or whatever it was off on purpose like that "Voice of Survival" guy was saying, he wouldn't go so far to help people when it was none of his business. Seeing as how he was handling things on his own, my powers sporadic at best, I decided to leave it up to him to take care of what was going on.

The following afternoon when I stopped by a fountain to get a drink, almost immediately I spit the stuff back out when it suddenly turned to tar in my mouth. Hobbling over to an alley where I could wait out the "mind trip", a woman's voice suddenly spoke to me. Telling me if I joined her, became a part of her "family", that I would never have to worry about control again. Kinda sounded like a honey pot to me.

Now, I'd seen enough sci-fi and read enough comic books to know what that was code for. Whoever the lady talking to me in my head, most likely through the tar, was, either intended one of two things; Killing me, or brainwashing so _I _as an entity wouldn't have to worry about it. I'd seen some of the Reapers running around the city with superpowers, though none of them were bulletproof so I paid them no mind at the time. Now however… I knew something big was up. What stung even more than the oncoming migraine though was that I had no reliable means of healing myself if I stepped into a warzone. This Cole guy most likely had an _expert _or something keeping him in one piece, otherwise he wouldn't have held out as long as he had. So… unless I gained some kind of dermal armor or Wolverine's regenerative powers, I was keeping my tail _well _out of the shooting gallery.

* * *

><p>By day sixteen of my stint in Empire City, I had finally come down from the head trip I went under the other day. That woman's voice, sensuous in nature, hadn't attempted contacting me since. Figuring the black sludge to be some kind of mind-control agent, but not knowing <em>why<em>, I avoided sleeping that night until the whisperings in my ear disappeared entirely. Wouldn't want whatever bitch was trying to mess with my head screwing it up even _more _while I was asleep. Especially if I couldn't wake up again.

Following evening, and the last dark area in the Neon went back up, the light returning and taking the last stronghold the Reapers had with it. Now that there was light, the cops could fight back, and the people retaliate. While I did so from the shadows, I picked off a few squads of Reapers en-route to kidnap a bunch of people. Nothing too fancy, just keeping myself out of the spotlight, picking their pockets clean for the few that had money on them.

Thinking back on it, I'd been in the Neon forever, and the Historic district was nothing more than a crater, or at least half of it. Considering my options, I thought maybe it would be a good idea for me to move to the Warren, though there was only one way to the place, and it was currently occupied by the Reapers. As I am now, the Jefferson Tunnel is a no go, so I figured I'd call it a day and think this over tomorrow. Things had actually gotten kinda _bearable _in the Neon, so maybe I'd stay here for a while longer.

That or just until this whole quarantine thing came to an end. Or _if _it ever did.

* * *

><p>Next morning and the Jefferson Tunnel is completely underwater. Apparently Cole MacGrath ran through there, fought… something, and came out on the Warren district. Thinking the guy had blown my only way of moving to new territory, despite how it wasn't <em>that <em>important, I was happy to find that he had gotten the bridge repaired. Hoping it wouldn't turn out like before, I teleported from the Neon to the Warren in a burst of _Jumps_, then headed deep into the territory to find myself a new place. Sure the place may've been the slums, but maybe I could start making a real difference.

However, something I didn't take into the account was that a few days after the blast, the homeless people living there banded together and seized control of the entire area. They called themselves the Dust Men, wearing nothing more than rags and garbage bags, half of my initial attire through this whole mess. I'd already had to deal with the Reapers running around, especially the tall ones with the same powers as me, and while mine seemed on a level above theirs, it was still a pain having the wounds from their bullets grazing me treated. Thankfully there was nothing present _in _my body to indicate that I had acquired superpowers. Or at least not anything the impromptu clinics around Empire City could gauge.

Getting my bearings, I saw that the Dust Men had left a lot of raw material around for me to build my new shelter. While picking money off of criminals gave me enough cash to be able to rent an apartment, with the power going on and off, just roughing it was better. Of course don't get me started on the freaky junk robot things that were scuttling around and attacking anything that moved. I blasted those things like crazy and it took almost a full minute to deal with each one with how much they were scittering around. Little bastards fucked up my freshly-made shelter too, so next time I see any Dust Men, I'll kick their asses.

It didn't help that those damn _Drones _were buzzing around and doing whatever it was that military drones did, but if it was any solace to me, it was that Cole was shooting them down. I assume its him because no one else I've heard of shoots lightning from their fingertips. This going on kept me from having to listen to them for too long as I worked on reconstructing my shelter.

* * *

><p>Turns out the other day, the Dust Men had been loading hostages onto boats planning on using them to get out of quarantine. Of course I knew from the start that plan wouldn't work. The army probably had standing shoot-on-sight orders at all times. Thankfully, Cole was able to disable the engines and prevent a lot of innocent people from dying, that horror settling down without any gunships having to come in and blow anything out of the water. I also hear something about some old man throwing an entire <em>bus <em>atop a hospital building, but I didn't pay it too much mind since that issue had been resolved as well.

Deciding to get away from the shooting gallery for a bit, I decided to head back to the Neon District and get myself a little treat. As it turns out, the feds _did _carry out on their word to deploy more relief packages, this time with good stuff. After a little bargaining at the market, I was able to get some spicy jalapeño chips and spring water. You never know what you have until it's gone, and when you're able to get to it, you appreciate it all the more.

Walking around the Warren and munching on a snack I was able to get back in the Neon after a short trip, now able to _Jump _from one island to the next, I noticed that there were a lot of blue, white, yellow, and black posters all around. Looking up, I saw Cole MacGrath holding a lightning bolt as he stood on a scaffolding, while a trio of people looked on in admiration. Next moment something black and red with bits of white flew into my face. Yanking it away, I nearly passed out when I saw Cole in a more menacing rendition, his clenched fist in the center of The Blast, the left half of his face like the Ghost Rider's. Glad this one was the apparent reject, otherwise the people would be in a panic. Had he chosen the "Renegade" option apart from the apparent "Paragon", people might've thought the guy _was _a terrorist.

Thinking back on it, the Stone Canal Drawbridge was now the only means between the Warren and the Neon, the tunnel between the two most likely out for good. It's almost been three weeks since the Blast, and thinking back on it, for me there wouldn't ever really _be _a "getting back to normal" ending for me. Most likely even _after _the quarantine, _someone_, _somehow _will have gotten back to the mainland and end up spreading the plague, contamination going on for weeks until someone noticed. God forbid someone was actually able to get to an airport and spread the plague even _further_. It was one thing if Canada and Mexico shut off their borders, but unless someone cut through the North Pole, no one would be spreading the plague to Asia, Europe, or Australia unless by plane.

It was then at this moment that this weird feeling came over me. Not the uncomfortably energetic one of my _Jumping _power, or the tightened coil of my _Shockwave _power. No, this sensation was different. It felt like my whole body was _tingling_, and I had no idea what it meant. Holding my head, I sat in an alley waiting for this feeling to wear off when suddenly, out of nowhere-

"Hey, you okay kid?" a dark-skinned man said to me. The next moment from his perspective, instead of a brown-haired kid sitting in the back alley, there was a flash of white light, and then he was a perfect copy of himself. "Waaah!" the man cried out as he ran for it, people parting and scattering thinking it was a Dust Man or Reaper. Manliness be damned, when a Dust Man or Reaper came for you, you _ran_.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked myself before looking down. "What the hell! These aren't my hands! And this isn't my body!" I cried out finding I had somehow… _shapeshifted_, into the guy who tried to help me out. "Oh boy," I muttered to myself, heading off so I could try and wrap my head around what was going on.

The following evening I rushed back to the Neon. If me and the guy who I'd ended up copying were seen in the same place, I'd have a lot of difficult questions to answer. I'm also thankful I got back out of the Warren when I did, because as soon as the sun began to set, the Dust Men began tearing through the streets in armored busses, shooting everything that moved with automatic weapons as they headed to the precinct. Were I more powerful or had balls the size of church bells I would've helped out.

Fact is I wasn't. I could only knock so much into the air with my shockwaves, my teleporting was _iffy _at best when I was scared, and the last thing I needed was for me to end up shapeshifting at a critical moment have my other powers to crap out.

Suddenly, at noon, feeling the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, I whirl around to face the Warren. It was just like before at The Blast, only this time I'm far enough away to actually see it without _experiencing _it. The Dust Men constructed this massive tower in the Warren, and at the top was where it was coming from this time. The sphere expanded, and I held by breath for that tragedy to repeat itself, thousands killed and… Nothing. Everyone's fine. No change at all. Even from there however, I could see the tower collapsing onto itself moments later. Whatever happened caused _someone_, _somehow _to go so ballistic that the entire thing collapsed. Or at least the top level anyway.

And I just stood there staring like an idiot. Only thing I could tell for certain… Things were going to heat up real soon, and looking over my shoulder to where I once lived, I figured… This would all end where it started.

Oh if only I knew that now, was just the beginning.

* * *

><p>Okay then. As it turns out, I now have <em>three <em>superpowers. I can teleport short to mid-range, though I'm not willing to attempt long-range since there weren't any stretches of land long enough that I can safely. I could send powerful shockwaves along the ground that were strong enough to send people and car frames over three story buildings. I had thought all this superhero stuff would've ended by now, but now I can _shapeshift_. While the prospect of a third power is cool, I knew if I didn't reign this new power in and stop myself from transforming into everyone I saw, that I'd be caught pissing in the wind.

The other day it only took me relaxing my body and thinking about my old self to get me back to normal, but what if I ended up transforming not _only _into the people I meet, but by memory also. Unlike my other powers, this one seemed to be based off of desire alone. Nothing survival-based like "needing to get away from something" or "have to get these guys away from me". Just a completely self-conscious thing. Finding one of those old cameras in a scrap heap that spat out already-developed pictures, I quickly snapped some pics of myself from various angles and made myself a little portfolio, so that way I'd always know what my original body looked like if it ever turned out in order to "go back", that I have to control that too.

Thinking back onto my other powers, I decided to continue working on my first two before I got too deep into my third. While I could teleport and send shockwaves on my own now without either going off on their own, maybe if I… refined them a bit, I could do so much more with my powers. Teleporting was cool, but if I needed to get to higher ground I was left hanging out to dry. Shockwaves were powerful, but only being able to send them across the ground wouldn't help me any if there were guys above me taking pot shots. Shapeshifting was the least combat-applicable of my powers, so before I began refining it, I would refine my teleporting and shockwaves after getting a basic grasp on _how _to shapeshift.

As it turned out, shapeshifting was a bit easier and more pliable than my other powers, coming easier than the first two. Like how some animals adapt camouflage, shapeshifting was being used by these white-clad Reapers to move through populated areas unnoticed before all hell broke loose. If I ended up ever getting too deep into enemy territory, I could always transform into a random Reaper or Dust Man, then teleport away when I had the chance. The cause of my first _shapeshift _was just like my first _Jump _and _Shockwave_. The ambient energies in my body trying to find a way out and doing just that. There wasn't really any danger to me when I first _Shifted_, so I figured all I'd have to do was _think _about what I wanted to become, and I'd just _become _it.

By the afternoon, I'd finally gotten a decent grasp on this shapeshifting thing. Using some magazines I found, I found a nice secluded place for myself and just practiced transforming into the different people from the magazines, then looking into a mirror to see how close I was. Apparently how good the _Shift _was, related to how strong or recent the memory was, because after putting the magazine down for a few minutes and trying to transform into someone, I noticed gradually that the details got more diluted, and my own came back in. First was the hair going back to normal, then the face, and lastly my eyes. Not really sure if that was because I lacked the control to transform into whatever I wanted on a whim or not.

That aside, I decided to stay in the Neon for a while and work on my teleporting. I'd always teleported across stretches of ground, but what if I could teleport from the ground to the top of a building? If I could do that, a whole world of possibilities would be opened up for me. I might even be able to get back to the Historic District and see if anyone I knew survived the Blast. Figured with them being isolated from all this Reaper and Dust Men crap that they could hold out on their own until I found a way to get over there.

However, after hearing about how a bunch of super-powered guys in black suits were tearing the place up, their apparent leader being stationed there, I knew it was do or die. I didn't care whether or not my powers were under my control, in it or not, a shockwave could send enough of those guys flying that I could make a difference.

* * *

><p>As it turned out the previous evening, the 19th Street Drawbridge had been lowered, giving me a more reliable in-and-out of the Historic District. There <em>was <em>another bridge I could use, but the place was torn apart, and I didn't want to end up botching a Jump and ending up in the bay. Never really tried teleporting while in water either, but after seeing all the botched teleporting attempts on sci-fi, can you really blame me? Wouldn't want half of my body to be shredded because I ended up teleporting _into _something.

However, when I arrived in the city, my former home, I suddenly felt a cold, powerful grip dig into my shoulder, and the next thing I know I'm thrown across the roof of an apartment building before I can even cry out in fright. After everything I've been through, it didn't take me too long to realize someone else with powers had just abducted me through teleportation. Only question is… who?

Looking up I got a good look at the guy.

He was tall, taller than I was, with a worn, weathered, and aged visage. He wore an off-white trench coat and pants, a light gray hood over his probably-bald head with a matching scarf covering his chin and neck. The guy wore a metal plate across his stomach and chest with six glowing circles on them kinda like Thor's Asgardian armor, but what surprised me the most was his right arm. The whole thing was made of dull gray metal with glowing blue parts, the entire thing biotic and far more advanced than even the _best _prosthetics out today.

"I had hypothesized that abilities would manifest within 1 to 48 hours, and that given the right circumstances, the conduit would have full control of their powers within three weeks," the man in the white cloak and the bionic arm spoke. "Glad to see I was right."

"Who _are _you?" I demanded, this guy _really _starting to piss me off for some reason. Don't know why, but something about the guy just raised my ire. Maybe it was that he plucked me off the streets.

"You can call me Kessler," the man spoke. "You can also call me the one _responsible _for your new powers. The one responsible for all _that_," he said motioning to the park, wooden crosses scattered where the bodies of those who died in the Blast were buried. The most recent… occupant, being a doctor by the name of Trish Dailey.

"You!" I growled as I suddenly teleported behind him and lashed out at him, more fluidly than I ever had before, only for his arm to catch mine mid-strike with the force of a vise, a jolt of electricity sent through me and dropping me like a stone. The guy who was responsible for killing so many, and I was powerless even when he was right in front of me.

"Sasha _told _me about a Conduit, a powerful one who resisted her control just as Cole did," the man said putting a foot to my chest, pinning me to the ground. "I just never thought he would be so… young."

"Who the fuck is _Sasha_?" I spat, trying to get up only for the man to zap me through his foot.

"Who she is or was does not matter," the man stated. "I am only here to deliver a message. I have big _plans _for Cole MacGrath, so I would _advise _that you stay out of my way."

"Stay out of your way? You killed thousands of people and you want me to stay out of your _way_?" I demanded as I suddenly teleported out from under his foot, furrowing my brow and launching my most powerful Shockwave to where he was standing as his foot fell to the ground upon my absence from beneath it. When the dust settled however, Kessler was unharmed, going as far as to wipe some dust off his shoulders he'd accumulated from the blast like nothing had happened at all. While the people down below looked up to the source of the explosion, I could only gape, my jaw dropped so low it would've fallen off were it not well-attached.

"You still fail to see the big picture," Kessler stated. "No matter. You will, and _soon_," the man stated before teleporting away.

"Rrrrr. Dammit!" I cursed as I slammed my fist on to the roof. I blasted him with everything I had, and it still wasn't enough. The guy didn't even budge, only dusting himself off. I was pissed beyond all recognition, this ambient energy in my body practically _gushing _out the wazu.

Thankfully or not, the guys called the First Sons and the Dust Men were getting into a huge fight in the Blast zone later that day, and with both sides beating the hell out of one another, I was able to take as many pot shots at them as I wanted with impunity. No one even noticed, either too preoccupied with one another or Cole running around and raining lightning down on them from the heavens. Much like before I _Jumped _for the first time ironically.

Towards the evening, the First Sons had these massive balloon things flying around, spraying this weird green _gunk _all over the place. Had no idea what it was, but with the way people were rolling on the ground and freaking out, I knew it certainly wasn't good for my skin. Climbing up to a nearby building, since I _still _can't seem to Jump to anything higher than ground level at the moment, I tried blasting those things out of the sky with my Shockwave attack. While I was able to get a few bursts out in front of me, and this was a _big _stepping stone for me, it wasn't enough to even _reach _them, and those force fields around them weren't just for decorations.

But _still_… Superpowers, force fields. This was all supposed to be science _fiction_, yet I've seen fifty years of progress covered in three weeks. Just what the hell has the _government _been doing? The CDC suddenly has Military units, the FEMA is acting like a law enforcement agency, and I don't even want to _think _about what the FBI has been doing the entire time. Uncle Sam has pretty much been screwing everyone in Empire City over, and yet no one on the outside seems to care.

Guess it's a good thing there's a guy like Cole MacGrath running around, dropping lightning bolts on the bad guys. I know for a fact that if I was the only "good guy" with powers, then Empire City would be royally screwed. Still, it doesn't make me worry any less. Seems like someone's setting the stage for a fundamental shift in the way this country works and who runs it.

And I have the feeling that Kessler and the First Sons are just the beginning.

* * *

><p>It's been the full three weeks since the Blast, and what Kessler hypothesized as the timeframe in which a Conduit would have full control of their powers. Way I see it, he meant having enough control over their powers that they wouldn't go off whenever I sneezed, farted, or just any inconvenient moment. Kinda glad he was right, because if even <em>one <em>of my powers went off with enough witnesses around, and I'd be left to hang. I'd seen people being strung up and hung from lamp posts by their ankles, and I didn't want to think of what they'd do to me because I was different. Hell people had been persecuting against one another for the smallest things since _before _the Blast and the "freaks" started running around, so I shudder to think about what would happen to a Conduit, which I'm assuming is the name for the people who gained powers after the Ray Sphere went off if that Kessler guy's words were any indication.

After everything that had been going on, what with the Reapers, Dust Men, First Sons, mind control agents, balloons, prison breaks, and crooket feds, I figured all I could do today was head to where this whole mess started, and wait for the dust to settle. I pretty much sat in one of the blown-out buildings for most of the day, doing nothing but trying to make a Shockwave the size of a quarter in my hands. The big ones could send cars flying, so I figure if I set off a quarter-sized one in my hands, that I could really hurt someone without full-out killing them.

I didn't bother deluding myself by saying none of those Reapers _didn't _diethe first time my Shockwave power went off. In the beginning I'd broken more laws in two weeks than I had in my entire life. I may've kept my nose clean in my first sixteen years, though my record wasn't perfect. I doubt there's a pure soul _left _in Empire City, and with the way the world's headed, a new "standard" might be coming about sooner rather than later. After waiting for _hours_, spotting a huge air fight above the Neon in the corner of my vision, there was finally some movement down below.

Kessler… it took me every bit of control I had not to go down there and _try _to strangle the guy. The guy was leader of the First Sons for a reason, or at least if what I'd heard off of rumors is correct. Nearly all of the First Sons displayed some form of superhuman ability, so it would only make sense that the guy who kept them all in like could _keep _them in _line_. I'm not sure if the guy knew I was watching or not. If he did, he just didn't see me as a threat, and the guy probably knew that _I _knew that I wasn't. If he didn't, well… I didn't hold my breath for that possibility.

Then out of nowhere, Cole arrives, descending towards the crater from a high building with static electricity burning off his hands like some kind of stabilizer. He and Kessler talk, though I couldn't hear a word they were saying. Once they were done talking though, Kessler moved, far faster than I ever could, and he started chucking energy grenades on and around the rise in the crater's center. One hit Cole and knocked him off the pillar where they were talking, but just as quickly he got up and started launching lightning bolts at the guy from his fingertips, Kessler dodging the blasts and using a refined shockwave along the ground to knock the guy back before he bolted off again. As the fighting escalates, Cole and Kessler continue throwing everything they have at one another, and it's a few minutes in that I notice something. Cole and Kessler, not only were their powers the same, but their faces were _also _similar, though Kessler's was a few decade's over Cole's.

Before I could contemplate further however, Kessler gets his hands on Cole and digs his fingers into his head, electrocuting him and dropping like a stone. Much like he had to me. Moments later however, and the fat man from Archer Square suddenly comes in, gun blazing as he opens fire on Kessler. However, despite how valiant his efforts were, Kessler _still _sent him flying like a rag doll, right into the building below where I was watching the fight from. I would've checked on the guy, really I would have, but the fact was I was too terrified to move. If Kessler came after me with the intent to kill there wouldn't be any ifs ands or butts. He could hunt me down and _kill _me if he so much as got the inclination to.

Getting up, Cole fought Kessler even harder, and though I couldn't hear what they were saying, I knew Kessler was doing _something _to egg Cole on, because like at the bridge, Cole was drawing electricity to himself from the exposed cables without even being near them. Sure, Kessler was tough creating semi-tangible clones of himself, and creating attack drones out of thin air, but Cole was fighting for something bigger from himself, or at least that was my guess, and he fought even harder than before.

Finally, after like twenty minutes of dodging around his attacks, throwing electric bombs and lightning bolts at him whenever he was vulnerable, Cole made his finishing move. Teleporting at him to zap him in the head again, Cole stopped Kessler and delivered a few jolts right back, then sent him off the center of the crater with an electrified uppercut before dropping thunderbolt after thunderbolt right on top of him.

Guy didn't even stand a chance.

When Cole began to revel in his victory however, Kessler _still _got up, suddenly rushing at the guy and diggings his fingers into his face. Moments later, the guy finally drops dead, and Cole turns away. After what felt like forever, Cole and his friend long gone from this place I finally drop down and go over to Kessler. The guy who ruined mine and countless lives. For whatever reason, Cole was probably the only one who _fully _knew the details, and while it was a pain in the ass, my consciousness chose _then _to kick in. Told me to bury his body, instead of leaving it out to the buzzards like most others would were they in my shoes.

"Man, having a conscience is such a pain," I grumbled to myself as I ran my fingers through my hair. _Of course it's one of the few things I have to show that even after all this, that I'm still human. Superpowers or not._

Dragging his body over to the base of the building where I had been hiding, and where the fat man was launched through the air, I dug into the charred ground with a shovel I found, spending the rest of the day digging a five to six foot deep hole. After placing the guy's body in the hole, contemplating just _why _my consciousness was telling me to do this, I placed his hands over his chest in a cross, made sure his eyes were closed, and then began to shovel the dirt back on to him. I could almost swear the guy was _smiling_, but I didn't want to look down, lest the guy come back as a _zombie _or something and bite my face off.

Weirder shit had happened after all in the last three weeks.

It was after dragging a piece of concrete over the impromptu grave so no one would _loot _the damn thing, propping another one to act like a grave marker, that I heard a voice in my head. I had long-since connected the woman named Sasha to the mind-altering tar from a couple weeks back, and while the voice reached me in the same way, this one was different. Kinder, and free of ill intent or malice, it along with two _other_ voices thanked me. Thanked me for burying their husband and father… For burying Cole MacGrath.

And then the voice was gone, leaving me at Kessler's, or who I _thought _was Kessler's grave to wonder…

"Where the hell is this world heading?" I asked as I looked into the sunset, the sky painted red.

* * *

><p><strong>Here is the compilation of events from the first inFAMOUS game from my OC's perspective. While my OC's involvement in Empire City is probably disappointing, I assure you that his involvement in New Marais will be more direct. As to <strong>_**how **_**on the other hand, well, you'll just have to wait and see.**

**Also, I watched the entire walkthrough for inFAMOUS at least twice before this chapter came out, once before making this chapter, and the other _to _make this chapter, so maybe you could put in a few Reviews for my hard work? Writing a story from the main character's perspective is one thing, but it's another thing entirely to do so from a _different _person's standpoint.**


	4. Armageddeon in Archer Square

A month had passed since all this business with the Reapers, Dust Men, and First Sons came to a close after the death of Kessler. During that time, an entire aerial armada flew towards the city, and though I don't know the circumstances, I was pretty sure Cole was the only thing keeping Empire City and everyone in it from getting glassed. Heh, thinking about it, this is all like something straight out of a video game, and if I knew _anything _about video games, it was that in the sequel, things always got more heated after you got "powered down". How video game designers find realistic reasons for that to happpen _every _single _time_, I'll never now.

I myself was able to find the right mix between work and pleasure, though for me the positions were reversed. _Pleasure _was me finding a part-time job at a gas station, reveling in how good it felt _not _to have to scavenge for food, water, or clothes just to survive. I also got a modest apartment in the Neon, nothing too fancy since after everything that happened my tastes became much simpler. All in all I was able to regain _some _sense of normalcy._ Work _on the other hand, was working to control my powers, which I still had. It was actually _ironic _that no matter how hard I had tried for the three weeks after the Blast to control them, that it was _after _everything finally cleared up that I finally became able to refine my abilities.

I could now _Jump _from ground level to the top of a ten story building, and if I angled it just right, could land on the middle of the roof after a short drop instead of precariously at the edge. I could also Jump from one island to the next with little difficulty given I had a clear line of sight, though it _did _continue to wear me out, my body needing the occasional snack break to help compensate. But hey, what can you expect, it's teleporting. Of course I'd get hungry. Teleporting multiple times in short bursts took the same toll, but was more disorienting, so I tried to give myself minute breaks between each _Jump_.

My Shockwave powers also expanded, both literally and metaphorically, with me being able to make single powerful blasts at one point, or a series of weak blasts with a _powerful _one at the end of the chain. I was even able to get them to stretch out past twenty feet into open air away from myself. Glad I used the out-of-the-way Blast zone in the Historic district to train, otherwise Cole may think I'm another guy like Kessler and shove his foot up _my _ass too, who speaking of which I actually visited a few times out of a sense of obligation, me being the only who knew anyone was burried there. As for what I was trying before Kessler showed up at the Blast zone, I had finally gotten that to work too. In a closed fist I could generate a concussive ball of force strong enough to punch through concrete and sent a man flying, the latter I found out when a leftover First Son tried to mug me before I launched him into the bay. _Currently_, I was working on placing that power inside my body and releasing it through physical contact instead of into the open air. Figured if the wrong person messed with me, that they'd be in for one hell of a surprise when a flick to the forehead sent them flying. Like Tsunade to Naruto when _they _first met.

My shapeshifting is my proudest achievement though, as well as what I found out about myself, or rather what I found out about my body. Thinking back on all the bumps, scrapes, and falls I'd had after the Blast, I should've been dead long before now. Same thing should've applied to Cole with him being in a shooting gallery near-constantly, but if Kessler holding out against my most powerful Shockwave _–at the time- _was anything to go by, it was that Conduits were granted some form of invulnerability to just about anything and everything thrown their way. Not only that, but my body was also far more flexible from before, and while I wasn't double-jointed like a circus performer or could squeeze through a hole the size of a quarter like a rat, I could keep up with any Yoga instructor I wanted. While I shapeshifted into people larger or smaller than me, I found out that my weight remained constant, or at least according to the bathroom scale I had liberated. While I could change my size, girth, and gait, my body's weight didn't increase or decrease, but my density would change to accommodate it. Hell, after transforming into every race, ethnicity, and minority imaginable, I was able to change individual parts about myself. I could generate completely new identities on a whim to the point that it became second-nature, and being able to assume other people's identities from a single top-to-bottom glamce. Nothing too out of the ordinary it be immediately noticed. The only problem came up at the _one _time I risked transforming into a chick. I returned to normal easily enough, and while everything _downstairs _was fine, it took me a while _–as well as a short panic attack- _to remodel my balcony. If you catch my drift. Of course, I eventually got the hang of it if I ever needed a _woman's _quise, but I didn't use them too much simply because it was quite weird, and I was topheavy based on my… proportions.

Deciding to reminisce on how things first began to change in Empire City for the better, people having cleaned the place up better than _before _the Blast, I headed over to the Neon and dropped by Archer Square. You would think I'd visit the Historic District, but the fact was there wasn't anything _left _to reminisce about. I'd come to terms with how most of everyone I knew was gone, and knew mourning over them wasn't going to bring them back or put the buildings back together. All I could do now was move forward.

Sometime around noon when I felt the hairs on the back of my neck tingle, I didn't _bother _looking over my shoulder this time. I just ran. Ran as fast as my legs would carry me.

"Crap oh crap oh crap oh crap oh crap!" I cried fervently as I ran away from Archer Square as fast as my legs would carry me, people giving me strange to confused looks before going about their business. Or at least right up until everything went south… Again.

As it turned out, I made the right decision getting the _hell _away from Archer Square, because almost as soon as I had bolted down the street with a Jump for good measure, the flame-colored energy singularity that had appeared behind the big statue overlooking the place began to suck mass and people into itself, shredding them all into nothingness. Sparing a _second-long _look over my shoulder, my eyes widened when I saw a _massive _humanoid form seemingly made out of magma emerge from the flaming explosion. Thought I'd seen it all, but then I realized, _normal _was just a word people used to lord themselves over others, I continued to haul ass.

* * *

><p>Ash, soot, and cinders flew through the air. People were screaming like crazy. Running for their lives. Trampling their fellows underfoot. A giant monster was rampaging.<p>

Was it Tuesday already?

But in all seriousness, this was bad. And I mean really _really _bad. Right on the day people would _finally_ be allowed to leave Empire City after the quarantine was lifted, and _this _shit happens. I was glad I'd built up my endurance during my three weeks in Hell, because otherwise I wouldn't have been able to run the three blocks from Archer Square to Pier 13 without getting so winded I couldn't do anything else. Reason I headed _there _was because there was a boat, and even if it wasn't _scheduled _to leave in the immediate future, with all the shit that was happening now it _would _be. After all, it _is _human instinct to run away from something they _know _they can't fight, or are just afraid of in general.

And trust me, you'd be scared shitless _too _if you had a hundred-foot monstear bearing down on you like this.

"God damn it! I wake up in a crater, develop superpowers, and when I _finally _make some headway in getting my life back together, _this _shit happens!" I cried out as I ran. Ironic or not, I would _once_ _more _have to work all the money in my pocket. I suppose I should be glad this all happened on _pay _day. Nothing like a big wad of bills in your pocket. Of course, after the Blast I had taken to carrying a backpack with varying supplies for every possible wherever I went on a daily basis out of sheer paranoia, and boy am I _really _glad I did. It may've been weird, but _you _try not keeping a change of underwear on you at all times after spending three weeks in a veritable hell where laundry is a no-go. Or at least not for the two weeks until things started getting cleaned up.

Making it to the boardwalk after a quick Jump, everyone too panicked to notice me _teleporting_, a flaming bus was suddenly chucked overhead like a baseball, sailing through the air before it hit a tanker and sent it lolling to the side. As it began to sink, I could hear the people screaming as they fell into the bay. However, my attention was soon turned to a new source.

Cole MacGrath just ran past me, and looking over my shoulder, I saw him shooting balls of lightning out of his hands and at whatever it was that was causing all hell to break loose in the distance.

"Yep! Right here, man!" the electrokinetic shouted, the thing growling before it chucked a part of the _giant _statue from Archer Square right at us. The thing hit the boardwalk and sent the two of us flying. I blacked out when my head hit the boardwalk.

* * *

><p>Minutes later, or from what I could guess since my watch was busted<em>, again<em>, I bolted awake and started running. Looking over my shoulder after getting some distance, I saw that right as Cole got up, the giant thing that was throwing busses like softballs yanked the piece of the statue that he threw aside, the thing now right on top of Cole, knee-deep in the water, its eyes glowing like twin suns as it stood imposingly over us. Its body looked like it was forged within the depths of the earth, glowing orange magma covered by plates of brown stone.

Looking up at the thing, I saw that it wasn't just any old monster. It was _human_, or at least looked human. It had a brow, two eyes, ears, a nose, and musculature like any other human would. I figured that this thing was a Conduit, but if this thing was over a hundred feet tall, I figured the "Blast" that had to go off to create _this _guy must've been large enough to take out an entire _continent_.

Then again, normal rules don't apply to Conduits. If Cole can drop from the top of a hundred-foot structure, which I've _seen _him do, and survive, then it's totally possible for a Conduit _that _big to be created, born, whatever, without anyone noticing.

Looking over my shoulder, Cole was hitting the thing with everything he had, the thing just shaking it off while it threw giant fireballs the size of _Buicks_ at him. I continued to run, knowing that things were never as simple as "stop that guy", making my way to the boat with plans on getting on. Given the circumstances, I don't think anyone would mind me stowing away on a boat during the apocalypse.

With the way things were going, this was starting to look like it. Especially after the thing suddenly turned off the gravity around him and Cole, vaporizing everything it could get its hands on. Cole managed to blow the left side of its head off and got the gravity back to normal, but that only made the thing mad. Or, _madder_. By the time I got to the end of the pier, Cole suddenly blasted the thing with lightning bolts from the sky, much like on the first day when he was developing _his _superpowers, only it was under his complete control.

"Heh, way to go, hero," I said with a smile as Empire City's savior rushed back to the boat after the thing fell beneath the waves, the boardwalk breaking apart as he did so through some unseen force. I myself had teleported onto the boat while everyone was in a panic, Cole not too far behind in an impressive leap when the pier suddenly bucked upwards. I was going to congratulate him when he landed, only for the gravity to crap out again.

"Oh no…" I gaped as my heart sunk into my stomach, that _thing_, half of its head blown off, rising from the water like half its head _hadn't _been blown off. Next moment it grabbed Cole, probably to crush him, however the electrokinetic would have no part of it.

And neither would I.

The guy may've been the reason that everyone I knew back in the Historic District got fried, or whatever _really _happened to them, and for better or worse he was the same reason I got my powers, but there was no way in _hell _I was going to let him die before I got some straight answers out of him. After having to bury Kessler myself, Cole's name coming up after I had done so, he_ owed _me.

Once the thing had grabbed him, Cole began blasting the thing with balls of lightning. Everyone else had run, sans a few who I figured knew Cole personally, and in the heat of the moment, my body began to arc white and black energy, and I blasted the thing with everything I had. Throwing my hands forward, I set off the force of a freight train again, and again, and _again _against its hide, only for the damn thing to shake it off like a summer's breeze. I suppose I should be thankful that everyone was focusing on Cole, especially as he brought down a thousand thunderbolts _–not literally- _down on the thing's head, because it meant I could act as a "normal human" for a bit longer.

Of course, it only took me a few days after the Blast to realize, I'd become something other than human. Whether I was something more or something less didn't matter. All I knew was _this _time around, I wouldn't be hiding with my tail between my legs. No matter what it took, I'd _force _my way into Cole's group if I had to, and do everything it took to make sure that thing, that _beast_, got what was coming to it.

However, my internal tirade was cut off as the thing was knocked back, and Cole… dropped like a stone, his body splayed out in the water as electricity arced off it.

_Holy shit… Cole just got his ass kicked… _I gaped seeing the sight as my arms fell to the sides. After watching Cole defeat Kessler, who I thought was the _top _Conduit of the time, I thought _nothing _could stand in his way.

Unfortunately… I was wrong.

**To be continued…**

* * *

><p><strong>And here's the start of the inFAMOUS II part of my story. Hope you enjoyed the rendition, and before anyone asks, my OC actually <strong>_**will **_**be getting involved in Cole's merry band. The events that took place in inFAMOUS were to catalogue him coming to terms with becoming a Conduit _-after hearing the word from Kessler-_ and working through his developing superpowers. ****Now however, he'll be working to make a difference. To make up for all the times he ran and hid, consequences regardless.**

**Also, his name will be revealed next chapter. Something that I'm surprised I was able to hold off on doing this long.**


	5. Meetings

The thing had drained him. Broken his powers. To me, it felt like the end as I watched Cole barely floating in the water below. The guy looked half-dead, an injury that would scar on the right side of his face, bits of electricity arcing across his body, and it wasn't until he was pulled out of the water that he got any better. Within moments of him being retrieved, an Asian woman in a suit talked into a radio, and then the boat started moving, showing _she _was the one calling the shots here. I knew that right now Cole needed to be treated, regardless of whether that monster had been stopped, so I didn't say anything. Just let him and his friends pass.

However… That thing… That Beast, had just put itself together in the distance as soon as the boat had left port. There was a brilliant flash of yellow, white, and then there was nothing left of Empire City. Only a cloud of blood-colored smoke rising from the remains of the three islands into the afternoon sky, which soon too became painted red as the sun set.

Have you ever let someone down? Watched that same person get their ass kicked, and straight up fail in trying to stop it from happening?

I have. I blasted that thing with everything I had, and everything I had wasn't enough. Had I tried transforming into something _big _enough to actually _fight _it fight it, the slightest breeze would've sent me reeling, and the rolling of the waves below would've undercut everything I was trying to accomplish.

However, it was at that moment that I realized, that it was moments like _these _that defined humans. That they pushed you further than you'd ever think possible. Force you to make choices.

No matter what the cost, that beast _would _go down.

* * *

><p>It was the following morning after… Empire City was destroyed. When the crew asked for my ticket, then found out I was a stowaway, I let out some sob story about how everything was going straight to hell and that I just ran to the boat by chance. Hell, I even put on the waterworks. Should've won an <em>Oscar <em>for that performance.

Then again after my Shapeshifting abilities came in, I'd gained… I guess you could call it a more profound understanding of my body. I could feel my heart rate without touching my pulse points whenever I wished, I knew exactly _where _I had aches or pulled muscles, and for some reason I knew how every part of my body worked, _as _it was working. My guess is because I can now change it, that fundamentally I'd be able to understand its state before anything moved around.

Sob story aside, the crew let me on since Empire City was vaporized, and they didn't want me to mourn in a _cell_. That and there were a few _others _like me who had gotten onto the boat in the chaos. Only difference was, all of them were _at _the docks when things went straight to hell.

It was some time into the afternoon that Cole MacGrath stepped out onto the deck and to the railing. The people gave him a wide berth when they recognized him, either out of respect or out of fear. I knew the guy was hurting inside, that much I could tell from his expression, but I knew now that if I didn't speak to him, didn't get on board whatever he was doing now, that my help would always be a moment too late.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Cole's POV)<strong>_

It was the second morning after everything back at Empire City happened. In and out, I felt like crap. Whatever the Beast did to me, it had broken my powers. For the entire week preceding my fight with Kessler, I'd been increasing the level of my powers through various means. Blast Shards, powering sub stations, standing on generators. Everything I did made me _more _than twice as powerful as I was before by the time I fought Kessler. The guy who had killed the woman he loved to make sure I was ready. All that work, all the sacrifices, and it was all torn down in just a few minutes.

The Beast had just put itself back together after we left port, and then the thing set off a blast like the Ray Sphere had before. By the end of the flash, the Neon, Warren, and Historic districts were nothing more than one big crater. I had been given powers to defeat the Beast. I was strong… I was ready… I had fought it with _everything _I had… and it wasn't enough.

As I stepped out onto the dock to get some air, the people kept their distance. Whether it was out of respect or fear… I just didn't know. Thinking back on it, I realized something. Something I had missed in the heat of the moment.

Someone _else _had been attacking the Beast as well.

I couldn't see from where I was given I was a bit preoccupied trying to get out of the thing's grip, but I could feelthe blasts as they impacted its hide with me in its grip. Someone, somewhere on this boat, was blasting the thing with everything they had too. The only reasonable explanation was that it was a Conduit, someone who had been given powers by the Blast sent off by the Ray Sphere, but the big question was, _who_ was it? I didn't exactly make _friends _with the Reapers, Dust Men, and First Sons. Far from it in fact, so who would stick their neck out for _me_?

Of course, heh, asking myself wasn't going to make a difference. I mean, it wasn't like the guy was going to come up to me and show me their Conduit powers. Right?

"Excuse me…"

I looked to the side when a voice reached my ears, a brown-haired teenage boy with different-colored eyes standing next to me by the railing, trying to get my attention. He was wearing black and red sneakers, black jeans threadbare at the knees, a white T-shirt, and a blood red hoodie with big pockets. His left eye was green and his right brown, which was something you didn't see too often, and the _look_ in his eyes told me he was _different _from the autograph-seekers I ran into back in Empire City when I developed my following and fan clubs. That only left one question in my mind.

"What do you want?" I asked dryly. I swear if this kid was going to ask why I _let _Empire City get roasted, consequences be damned I was tossing him overboard.

Taking in a deep breath through his nose, the brunette let out a deep sigh before turning to me. "Look, I could go on and on about what happened during the quarantine and why I'm going to talk to you now…" he started. "But the fact is…" he said as he held his right hand out at the water, white and black energies arcing off of it in wisps. "Actions… speak louder than words," he said before his muscles tensed, and the next moment a series of explosions went off in a chain, the last one sending the water flying fifty feet into the air.

Almost immediately the people on the deck looked away from one another and to the brunette, backing away from him with fear evident in their eyes, some most likely having recognizing his powers. I know I did. They were the same as "Reaper" Conduits used before. However, he seemed too short to be a Reaper, but if he was a reaper, the question was, what did he want from me now? Why not attack me outright? I fall in the water now and I'm as good as dead.

* * *

><p>Alright. So far so good. I walked up to the guy, introduced myself, and showed off my Conduit powers. They sorta freaked out the people, but the fact that I wasn't being hung by my thumbs and that Cole hadn't blasted me into next week meant things must've been going well for me. I waited for a full minute, Cole clearly shocked that someone with powers wasn't attacking <em>him <em>for a change, and I just hope someone didn't scream-

"Reaper!" a woman cried out in fright, the people scattering when she recognized my powers. Within moments the people around me were screaming their freaking heads off, much like before the Blast. However, _their _opinions of me didn't matter. Cole's did, and since he had yet to attack me or move away from me, I'm guessing he doesn't see me as an enemy.

Yet.

"Who… Are you?" he asked clearly trying to process that while I had powers I wasn't trying to kill him. Or at least from what _I _could guess.

"My name… is Alex Castro. I what I'm _guessing_ is called a _Conduit_," I said trying to keep a level head. After all, I was trying to talk to the most powerful guy in Empire City before that beast came around and not make a fool of myself, or an enemy. I wanted to prove I'd be an asset, and not a liability, and first impressions were important in that regard. "I was on the edge of the Blast in the Historic District when it went off. From that point onward, I began developing these superpowers, one of which I've just demonstrated," I said seeing his eyes widen a bit at that information. "While I didn't move to help you out directly before, which I apologize for, I want you to know that with the way things are going now, that I don't want to hide in the corner with my tail between my legs anymore while you do all the work. I have powers, I'm willing to use them, and I can fight. All I'm asking is for a chance to help you take that thing down," I asked sincerely, hoping my message would get across.

For a full five minutes the deck was silent, with only Cole and I standing across from one another. I was unconsciously holding my breath, while Cole just continued to stare at the information given. Of course that was probably to be expected because a person doesn't just walk up to you and say- "I have superpowers. Please let me help you fight evil." –without being crazy.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Zeke's POV)<strong>_

One minute I'm sketching up blueprints for something Cole can use to focus his powers. Not _just _so we can be friends again, but because if the Beast doesn't go down, then we'll all be screwed. As I'm putting the last touches on my preliminary design-

"REAPER! REAPER! RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!" a voice suddenly cried out of nowhere, my arm jerking and leaving an inky gash across the paper I was working with.

"Dammit!" I growled throwing the pen away. "That guy is _so _going to get it!" I muttered to myself as I grabbed my six-shooter, the same one I got during the second week of the quarantine. Never _did _hear the guy I traded my "exploding battery" to, so I figure it _had _blown up in his face, or he decided not to try anything considering my best friend_, at the time, _was an electric chair with feet.

* * *

><p><em><strong>(Cole's POV)<strong>_

"Hold on Cole! I got your back!" Zeke said suddenly coming around the corner, six-shooter out and aimed at the brunette, seeing as how he was the only person on the deck who _could _be the "Reaper" everyone was screaming about.

Or, well, on the deck at all apart from _me _actually.

"Ah! Ooh! Wah!" the brunette cried zipping around two bullets, a third apparently grazing his shoulder.

"Yeah that's right you _better _run! Why don't you show your _real _colors!" he shouted firing another round at the kid, only for him to suddenly teleport to another part of the deck. "Slippery little bastard," he grumbled as he quickly loaded for four empty slots in his pistol.

"Zeke! Wait! Give him a chance to explain himself!"

"Oh like that guy who arranged that _party _for you in the graveyard?" Zeke asked poignantly, that being one of my first encounters with the shapeshifting Conduits. "No way brother. He can talk all he wants, he ain't foolin' me!" he shouted firing more rounds, the brunette teleporting behind the anchor guard and pulling his head down.

"Cole! Call your friend off!" the brunette cried. If he _was _with the Reapers, or at least what was left of the ones I _didn't _hunt down, then why wasn't he fighting back? Could it really _be _as simple as him having powers and wanting to help?

Before I could go up and ask him that however…

_**TZZZZST**_

* * *

><p><strong>5 MINUTES LATER…<strong>

"Who do you work for?" Kuo suddenly demanded slamming a palm on the table. While Zeke was reloading after _Alex _hid behind the anchor guard, the NSA agent Lucy Kuo suddenly came out of nowhere and hit the kid with a taser. Cuffing him moments after he went down, we dragged him to a room in the hold, now serving as an interrogation room as she, well, you get the point.

"I work for an Indian guy named Kalish at the gas station convenience store at the corner of Walter and 3rd! Please don't _kill _me!" the brunette cried, practically sobbing, as he clasped his fingers together as if in mercy. Clearly he was terrified by the woman in front of him, and if you've had _my _experiences with women after Zeke does something stupid, well, I can understand his concerns.

"Not your cover! Reapers? Dust Men? First Sons? NSA? FBI? I want answers and you better give them to me," Kuo ordered. "I _know _you were the first to open fire, so don't even try and deny it!"

"Cole for the love of God, _vouch _for me!" the brunette pleaded in my direction.

"He's kinda right actually," I said getting her attention. "All he did was _show_ me he was a Conduit. He never used his powers on me."

"Alright then, assuming I believe that, what's his angle?" Kuo asked.

"Kid said he wanted to help me, and that he was tired of hiding in the corner," Cole said shrugging his arms. "I say we let him join."

"Say what?" Kuo and Zeke asked in shock.

"Hey, if we're going into hostile territory, then we're going to need all the help we can get," Cole said with crossed arms. "Plus, it'll be kinda nice to have a Conduit around who _isn't _trying to kill me."

"Before we even _think _about letting him join in, I at least want a _name _first," Kuo said sighing. Considering Cole was the only one who could defeat the Beast, or at least in theory, she was on just as short a leash as he was.

"My name's Alex Castro," the brunette returned.

"Castro… You mean like-" Zeke began to say before-

"_Don't_, say, a word," the boy now known as Alex growled with narrowed eyes. Apparently what Zeke was _about _to call him was an issue. Most likely high school.

"As fascinating as this all is, what makes you think we're doing anything more than escaping the Beast?" Kuo asked, wanting to keep things close to the vest.

"If you were trying to be covert when you met up with Cole, you didn't do a good job by coming in via helicopter into a quarantine zone," Alex returned plainly.

"Alright, but assuming we _are_ doing something important, what makes you _qualified _to help us?" she then asked.

"I'm a Conduit like Cole for one thing. Not as strong, but I'm still built pretty tough," the kid stated, the sound of bones popping out of place ringing through the quiet air before he brought his hands up from behind his back, one hand misshapen like the bones had become disjointed before it put itself back together. Next moment the bones in his _other _hand seemed to become disjointed before he slid _that _one out of the cuff. "Plus I can do that," he added at the end as the bones in his right fist righted themselves, clenching a few times.

* * *

><p>Making the kid wait in the room, Kuo taking the time to tie him in rope in a rather <em>questionable <em>manner, Zeke standing at guard this time, Kuo pulled me aside to get my opinion, obviously because I'd had the most experience with Conduits before. Given that the kid was a Conduit and everyone thought he was a Reaper, our options were kind of limited. On the one hand we could just leave him here, not get slowed down by a fourth person, however that meant leaving a person with powers free reign on a boat until it landed in the next port. The reason I say "free reign" is because if we tie him up just _because _he has powers and for no other reason, then of course it'll cause problems. On the other hand we could bring him with us, and while we run the risk of him going _Reaper _on us, there _would _be benefits over having another person with powers working with us. With his powers he would be _perfect _for infiltration missions, and if need be, could act as Zeke's extra muscle, hopefully to avoid another kidnapping.

After some delegations, Kuo decided that while we _did _run the risk of being attacked, leaving him unattended would be even worse. Coming back into the room, Alex was given his terms. As long as he continued to prove to be an asset, then he would be allowed to help us out. If he proved to be a liability, then he would be asked to stay out of our way, this also acting as a way of keeping him away from the people on the boat. If he betrayed us, well, he'd have to deal with _me_.

Plus, given that _I _was the reason his parents got killed, absorbed by the sphere, I figured I could at least cut the kid a break. If it came down to it, give him his fair shot. Just hoped it wouldn't come to that.

To Kuo's surprise, Alex didn't give off any signs that he intended to betray us, and if he truly _did _mean any of us, or anyone on the ship harm, he would've done so already. It took a while to convince Kuo that he had no idea the Beast would come up _that _day when she found out he had supplies with him, but explained after the hell of the quarantine, that he did so out of paranoia. Given he didn't have a roof like _Zeke's _to hide out on, I could agree with that. Plus I was safely tucked away in a hospital through more than half the first week of the quarantine, so I understood his reasoning.

With Kuo convinced to let Alex tag along, we took the time to get to know one another, seeing as how we'd be working together. While our meeting was estranged to say the least, it would be good to have a second person with powers in our group. Trust wasn't an issue, because he was pretty open with us, even telling a few of his own quarantine stories. After he handed Zeke the poster I rejected having posted around the city in favor of the more awe-inspiring version, he gave us a quick rundown of his powers.

**Flashback**

"So you can teleport, launch shockwaves along the ground, and shapeshift," Zeke said rubbing his chin after Alex explained his powers in as much detail as he could.

"That's about the gist of it," Alex admitted.

"Hmmm. Sounds to _me _like you've become a _Reaper _Conduit. Guys have the same powers as you. Still, never thought I'd see another person survive The Blast," he said processing that the kid's words were genuine. "Still… How come you _aren't _a Reaper?" he asked rubbing his chin.

"I guess I stayed far enough away that they never recruited me," the brunette stated. "Either that or being a drug dealer was a preliminary requirement."

"I think your first theory is as good as any," the man said waving his hand. "Turns out the Reapers were being manipulated by this mind-controlling _tar_. You must not've gotten any of it into your systems."

"Mind-controlling tar… You mean from that honey pot _Sasha_?" he suddenly blurted out.

"How do you know that name?" Cole suddenly said from the doorway.

"I heard about it from that Kessler guy," Alex said shrugging my shoulders, both of their eyes widening at the name before I asked my next question. "Also… Something I've been meaning to ask. What exactly is _your _connection to Kessler?" he asked turning to Cole, the man gaining a thoughtful expression before sighing.

_This is going to _take _a while_, he thought to himself before sitting down.

* * *

><p>"Well… Had I not heard it from your mouth, I'd say they were out of your god damn mind," Alex said after hearing his tale. "Huh… Guess it was his wife and <em>kids <em>thanking me when I buried him. _Somehow_," he noted at the end of his tail finding _that _part of the ritual somewhat hard to believe.

"Wait, you _buried _him?" Zeke asked aghast. Thinking about it, Zeke and Cole _did _just kinda leave his body out in the open.

"What? My conscience kicked in right as I was about to leave and told me not to leave the guy out for the buzzards," Alex said defensively. Digging the guy's grave for him and then putting him in it, _that's _certainly something he wouldn't put on my resume.

"I suppose it's just as well. Were it me…" Cole said before pausing at how that came out. "Well, were _I _dead, I figure I'd want someone to bury me too," he said finding the concept of him and Kessler being the same person _still _hard to comprehend.

**Flashback End**

After telling us that he met Kessler in person was quite a shock, as was the fact that he buried the guy. Of course, I'd seen the Terminator, so I _was _thankful that Alex hid the evidence, lest the feds perform an autopsy and possibly reverse-engineer his prosthetic limb into a weapon of mass destruction. Given the fact that the quarantine was up before the _dust _even settled, my concerns weren't unfounded.

Next day, we got to work.

I helped Zeke create a device to focus my powers. Hell, he'd do anything to be friends like we used to be. Alex, helping me keep in practice, would have "power spars" with me at least once a day. Of course, given the circumstances of him getting tased, the kid prompted me to let Kuo know _beforehand_. At the same time Agent Kuo gathered intelligence on the Beast. Town after town was lost as it traveled down the coast. She also used her contacts to requisition a smaller boat. New Marais was in lockdown, wouldn't let anyone in. We were going to have to sneak in through the swamp.

I don't know if you've ever let someone down… Got your ass kicked, or straight up failed. But _those _are the moments that define us. They push you further than you've ever thought possible, and force you to make choices.

No matter what the cost.

* * *

><p><strong>Another prequel chapter to inFAMOUS 2, and this time around, my OC Conduit, Alex, finally gets to meet Cole, Zeke, and Kuo. Next, the gang will be infiltrating New Marais, so watch the chaos ensue.<strong>


	6. AN

So on June 23rd, there will be an official Black Out. Authors will not log in, read, or review stories. Those who do not have accounts are also affected by FF's decisions too. Please participate and spread the news! If enough authors take part in this event, FF will know we mean business. Also, if anybody has any information on when this purging on M-rated fics will be please contact me. I would like to know in advance!  
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